COLUMBUS -- Two bills that would increase penalties against sex offenders who live or enter areas near schools and other areas frequented by children had their first hearing in the Ohio House on Wednesday.
House Bill 11 would establish criminal penalties for individuals who live too close to schools, recreation centers and would establish a means for courts to remove those individuals from their residences.
House Bill 13 would prohibit certain sex offenders from being on school, pre-school or day-care center properties and would establish criminal penalties for those who break the law.
The Democratic sponsors of both bills spoke before the House's criminal justice committee Wednesday.
Rep. Tracy Maxwell Heard, from the Columbus area, offered HB 11 after hearing from constituents about the disproportionate number of known offenders who were allowed to live near schools.
Removing them from those premises requires a lengthy civil process, she said.
"(T)he violation itself is merely an infraction of a civil statute and therefore it requires a suit be brought, court dates, etc., and law enforcement has very little leverage to actually make a violator move until such time as a case is determined and the offender is deemed in violation," Heard said.
HB 13 is aimed at keeping sex offenders who have preyed on children away from schools, said Rep. Jennifer Garrison, a Democrat from Marietta and one of the primary sponsors of the legislation.
Offenders would be banned from school properties; any found guilty of breaking the law would face six-12 months in jail.
According to Garrison's testimony, "There are over 14,000 Tier III sex offenders residing in Ohio, including those currently serving sentences. And it is unconscionable that our children currently have no protection in their schools from those who would do them harm."
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
New charges for sex offender haning around schools
New charges have been filed against a Norton Shores sex offender accused of hanging out near an elementary school.
Darwin Michael Brown, 44, of 5982 Lake Harbor was arrested Wednesday and arraigned Thursday before visiting 60th District Judge Richard J. Pasarela in four misdemeanor cases: three of being a sex offender loitering near a school, and one of failing to pay a sex-offender registration fee. According to court records, the dates of the alleged loitering were April 1, Oct. 7 and Oct. 31 last year.
An earlier loitering case, based on an October incident near Churchill Elementary, was dismissed Feb. 20 "for further investigation."
Brown, a registered sex offender, was released from prison in December 2007 after serving time for third-degree criminal sexual conduct. He was a part-time firefighter with Norton Shores when the incident with a 14-year-old boy occurred in 1994. Authorities said Brown used his position to lure the boy into several sex acts.
Darwin Michael Brown, 44, of 5982 Lake Harbor was arrested Wednesday and arraigned Thursday before visiting 60th District Judge Richard J. Pasarela in four misdemeanor cases: three of being a sex offender loitering near a school, and one of failing to pay a sex-offender registration fee. According to court records, the dates of the alleged loitering were April 1, Oct. 7 and Oct. 31 last year.
An earlier loitering case, based on an October incident near Churchill Elementary, was dismissed Feb. 20 "for further investigation."
Brown, a registered sex offender, was released from prison in December 2007 after serving time for third-degree criminal sexual conduct. He was a part-time firefighter with Norton Shores when the incident with a 14-year-old boy occurred in 1994. Authorities said Brown used his position to lure the boy into several sex acts.
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